Great footballers generate respect, admiration, occasionally astonishment. Ferenc Puskas, unsurpassed Hungarian of an arguably unsurpassed national team who died yesterday aged 79, above all inspired fear among opponents.

Other great players such as Pele, Alfredo di Stefano, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff may have exerted more refined tactical influence upon their teams, but statistics show that Puskas was the executioner par excellence. In 84 matches for Hungary, he scored 83 times, the first on his debut aged 18 against renowned neighbours Austria when approaching their peak in 1945. He was also top scorer four times in the Hungarian League between 1947 and 1954, then four times in five Spanish League seasons he was the leading scorer having moved to Real Madrid after the Hungarian uprising of 1956.

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With Real, he scored 156 goals in 180 games in La Liga – with another 35 goals in 39 European Cup appearances – before retiring in 1967, aged 40. If his Argentine partner, Di Stefano, anaesthetised the opposition, Puskas then surgically extracted their resistance.

With his squat figure, barely 5ft 7in and crucial low centre of gravity, and with powerful thighs like Maradona's, he needed little back-lift to produce power in his left foot. Having small feet and striking the ball dead centre, his shooting, seldom flighted, was devastating. He could, uniquely, generate Steven Gerrard-like power even when standing stationary.

Puskas belonged to that special class of striker, including Jimmy Greaves, Gerd Muller, of West Germany, and Maradona who would have the ball in the net at close range before the goalkeeper could blink, such was their anticipation.

When Hungary memorably became the first foreigners to defeat England at Wembley, overpowering them 6-3 on a misty November afternoon in 1953, an early goal by Puskas, his first of two when sliding the ball beneath the sole of his boot as he sidestepped Billy Wright and rocketed the ball beyond Gil Merrick, left England completely bemused.

Before the game, England had been scornful of these Communist state-sponsored "amateurs", even though they had been Olympic champions the year before and were undefeated in three seasons. They had referred beforehand in the dressing-room to Puskas with his characteristically protruding tummy as "that little fat chap". What sweet ignorance: legendary scribe Geoffrey Green wrote of Wright's vain performance at wing-half as "a fire engine rushing to the wrong fire". England's defensive fires continued to blaze as they went down 7-1 the following spring, Puskas scoring twice more.

On the international front, Hungary, with Attila of Honved in their ranks, were considered outstanding favourites for the World Cup in 1954. In the first round, they slaughtered West Germany 8-3 but Puskas was injured, and perhaps unwisely was included for the repeat confrontation in the final. He scored as Hungary quickly went two up, only for those resourceful Germans, managed by Helmut Schoen, to overhaul them and lead 3-2. English referee Bill Ling disallowed Puskas' equalising goal, for offside, and the best team of all time, considered tactically superior by many even to the Brazil side of 1970, had fallen.

Two years later Honved were on tour in South America when the uprising against Soviet domination crippled Budapest. Several of the team declined to return home and after a two-year ban imposed by Uefa, Puskas joined Real and Di Stefano, already three times champions of the new European Cup. The following year Puskas, now 32, won his first and Real's fourth European title, and then came that unforgettable match at Hampden in 1960. Eintracht Frankfurt were no simpletons, having torn Rangers apart in an earlier round, yet now Real, in the most glorious form with Puskas scoring four times and Di Stefano three, shredded the Germans in a 7-3 victory.

In the 1962 World Cup, Puskas appeared for Spain but failed to score as they slumped in the first round. Four years later Puskas was in the squad for Real's sixth European Cup title, though he missed the final and retired the following year.

There followed a lengthy spell of coaching in Canada, the United States, Saudi Arabia, with Al-Masri in Egypt, Colo-Colo in Chile, AEK in Athens and, most notably, Panathinaikos, whom he took to the European Cup final at Wembley in 1971. He also led South Melbourne Hellas to the Australian title in 1991. Sadly in his declining years he was overtaken by ill health, admitted to hospital with arteriosclerosis and Alzheimer's and finally succumbed to pneumonia yesterday.

It is often said wrongly of those who have been exceptional that their like will not be seen again, but in the case of Ferenc Puskas, it is true.

So many of the foremost footballers have risen from the mean streets of the world, not least Maradona, and the same was true of Puskas, facing the additional hazard of the austere background of a post-war Communist-run Soviet satellite and its repression of normal freedoms. For Puskas, football provided a means of escape and, if not the riches showered upon even the average in the contemporary game, the possibility for travel and some luxury. As his portly figure prematurely revealed, Puskas indulged himself in the good life, yet who would have begrudged him on account of the glories he gave to us all.

FACTFILE1927: Born April 2. 1939: Joins domestic side Kispest. 1945: Scores on Hungary debut in 5-2 win over Austria. 1948: Finishes top scorer in Europe. 1949: Kispest taken over by Hungarian Ministry of Defence and becomes an army team known as Honved. 1952: Scores in 2-0 victory over Yugoslavia in Olympic final in Helsinki. 1953: Scores twice as Hungary become the first foreign side to beat England at Wembley1954: Scores another brace as Hungary thrash England 7-1 in Budapest. Plays World Cup final against West Germany in Berne, Switzerland, despite not being 100 per cent fit. He scores the opener and has a goal disallowed but Hungary lose 3-2. 1956: Refuses to return to Hungary following revolution, having won five domestic league titles and having scored 83 goals in 84 internationals. Plays a handful of unofficial games for Espanyol but hit by a two-year ban from Uefa. 1958: Joins Real Madrid. Scores hat-trick in second Real appearance against Sporting Gijon. 1959: Wins first of his three European Cups with Real. 1960: Scores four goals in 7-3 European Cup final win over Eintracht Frankfurt. 1961: Wins first of five successive Primera Liga titles with Real. 1962: Scores hat-trick in European Cup final but Real lose 5-3 to Benfica. Plays for adopted country Spain in World Cup finals but fails to score. 1966: Wins third European Cup with Real although does not play in final. 1967: Retires from professional football having scored 512 goals in 528 games for Real and almost immediately goes into coaching, starting at Alaves. Has spell in America coaching San Francisco and Vancouver. 1969: Joins Panathinaikos. 1971: Leads Panathinaikos to European Cup final. 1974-92: Leaves Panathinaikos and has further coaching spells at Real Murcia, Colo Colo, AEK Athens, Al-Masry, Club Sol de America, Cerro Porteno and South Melbourne Hellas, who he leads to Australian title in 1991. 1993: Takes Hungary national job but lasts only four games in the role. 2000: Is admitted to hospital with arteriosclerosis and later diagnosed with Alzheimer's. 2002: Nepstadion in Budapest is renamed to Stadion Ferenc Puskas. 2003: Named best Hungarian player of the past 50 years by Hungarian Football Association at Uefa Jubilee Awards. 2006: Admitted to intensive care at a Budapest hospital suffering from a fever and pneumonia. Nov 17: Dies in hospital.